Burning Off The Excess

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Thanks, Andy -- this was a lot of fun and I find it intriguing to see the world sort of from Joshua's perspective ;)



The lower decks have sort of been converted to places where exercise can be accomplished. Nika's been running the "track" on the lower deck all morning. Around and around and around she goes. Her mind is consumed with images that are wildly erotic -- Arden's found a whole new side of himself, and she is truly fascinated. She finally takes the stairs down to the cargo deck, where the sparring dummies have remained all along. She has no intention of bloodying herself this time. Although to be fair, she still might -- When to stop with anything is a difficult call for her right now. OF COURSE she's fine!

---

Joshua is working out near the sparring dummies. He's already gone through his aikido routines. Well, except for the meditation, which seemed like it would take too long. He's practicing his flying kicks on the dummies when Nika comes in. She is, as she has been all trip, radiating a wide mix of thoughts, most of them happy. If Joshua is being honest, he could use a few less of the flashes of her and Arden together. He doesn't have anything against sex, mind you. He and Rina have been enjoying quite a bit of it this trip. But it's hard to keep her in mind as his captain when he sees certain things. And he never wanted to see Arden like that, but things that were Read could not be unRead. Unless, he thought wryly, I get Blue Sun to wipe me again. And that might going a bit too far.

"Coming to work out that physical energy in a *different* fashion, Nika?" he greeted her as she came down the steps.

---

A brow quirks upward and Nika grins slightly. "What's the matter, Joshua?" she teases. "Feeling a need to get involved?" Oooh! Her brain flashes to the intriguing notion that Nate might have been a fun partner in these little games she's learning. The blond has trouble controlling her head in this mood, clearly; and there is a blithe kind of acceptance of what she's doing with Arden that wasn't there before. The comprehension that she knows he's in too deep emotionally and he'll just have to deal with it himself, he's a big boy. Not quite careless of the doctor, but far less concerned over what she might be doing to him with this turn of events. The random thought that maybe the reason she always sought sex as stress and adrenaline relief is because she isn't in control of it.

Back to the topic at hand. "If you're up for a sparring partner, I'd love the company."

---

"While I'm a big boy too, Captain, I already have a willing partner and I don't think she's up to adding a third. So we'll just have to stick to attempting to beat the crap out of each other." His tone is joking and his voice has no indication that he was particularly concerned with being teased. He steps away from the dummies toward the center of the mat. He puts out his hand and makes a "come and get it" motion. "Anytime, Nika, anytime."

---

Rock on! This is gonna be fun. She's had a long time to study his moves, and though they rarely engage in this way, Nika thinks they may just be equals on the mats. She reaches up and confines the long ponytail upward into the elastic holding it so that it's not something he can use to control her. This is highly likely to be no-holds-barred given their current situation. She approaches him after stepping out of her shoes and socks, a wicked grin on her features. And she launches into a high-speed series of fists to warm them both up.

---

Nika's got even more energy than normal, to be sure, and it has given her a new level of physical quickness that Joshua just can't quite match. On the other hand, he discovers quickly that he stops thinking and lets his thoughts go blank, he can almost anticipate her move before she makes it. She gets a few initial punches through but then his hands are up and sliding hers to the side. He then goes for a foot sweep, expecting her to anticipate it. They're just getting started, after all.

---

Her movements are fluid, and given that they're both still feeling one another out he too lands a few blows. In this instance her brain is not overworking -- muscle memory is powerful, and Nika's had years of learning her own martial arts too. She's not a master by any stretch, but Harry made certain she could kick some butt. She pulls back, pivoting out of the way of the sweep, and then offers a feral smile to him. She's having fun already.

---

He maneuvers around her, smiling all the while. "So when you going to swing Kiera into the mix and make Arden's head explode?" He follows the comment up with a flurry of kicks and blows, not really trying to be precise, just furious.

---

Her hands flash out to deflect his punches and she practically dances around his kicks, but Joshua's good and lands several more hits while she's on the defensive. Not to mention Nika is perhaps laughing on the inside about the query. "I did offer, but I guess it's all about what /he/ wants, isn't it?" Another wicked smile. "He's far more... assertive lately, so we'll see what he does with it." It's getting harder to breathe and talk at the same time, and she works to land her own blows if she can between his flurry of strikes.

---

Nika is getting some punches in, one in particular gets him in the shoulder and he can feel it all the way down his right side. But he shouldn't really be surprised since he wasn't playing defense. He slows down his punching a little and waits for just the right punch from Nika, which he uses to start a side throw that puts her on the ground a few feet away from him. He's almost dancing on his feet as he moves back, waiting for a quick kip-up from his captain. "Well, Arden wasn't much affected by the pax, so the assertiveness must be coming from you," he comments. "Of course, I don't think I was much affected either."

---

She lands hard and stays put for a long moment to regain her breath. Nika's kip-up is fast and lithe, and she lands on the balls of her feet. "Not coming from me," she observes with a faint grin. "But it's damn hot," she admits. She steps sideways and then whirls into a roundhouse kick toward his knee. He's not pining away, he's taking what he wants... what's not to like? It doesn't mean more than it means. Which is affection and attraction, but Joshua can feel that her emotions are not the same as Arden's – she adores the man, but right now he is simply her friend. She flashes briefly on those first moments, though, where she was afraid of him. And it sends a shiver through her belly.

---

That last thought of hers distracts him just enough that he doesn't manage to dodge out of the way. His knee crumples and he goes to the ground. Joshua quickly rolls out of the way to avoid a follow-up kick and then gets to his feet, shaking his head. Was he clearing it from the after effects of the fall or from Nika's rampaging thoughts? "Not fair trying to throw me off my game with those kind of thoughts, Nika. Keep your tactics clean and focus on a nice, clean fight." He then moves into a series of calculated blows, all a precise sequence to try and set her up for a containment hold.

---

Nika looks confused. "What?" She hadn't intentionally done any such thing. And trying to sort out which thought he might have been talking about distracts her for the critical moments to slow her movements. She fends him off clumsily and finds herself thoroughly contained. Harry'd have a fit. And Nika goes still in the hold, trying to sort out how to break it. If she can.

---

"I'm thankful I'm getting some, because otherwise all of these constant thoughts about sex and domination might be driving me nuts. Is Arden putting you in holds like this? Joking, joking..." And Joshua smiles at NIka to let her know he's just teasing her, little brother to big sister. He had one of her arms tight behind her, pressed between his frame and hers. The other arm was locked with his. In theory, her feet were free but if she moved them too much, she'd fall down. Of course, falling down was the key to getting out of this particular hold, but most people didn't consider the option.

---

She's not most people, and Joshua can hear every permutation of her assessment of the hold and possible ways out of it. Even as she dismisses several as not likely to work, Nika's brain is also on the question. He really shouldn't ask questions he doesn't want to read in her brain, considering she has zero control over THAT part. The flash of being literally bound and of the moment Arden had his hand closed around the lower part of her jaw, damn near threatening her flashes to the fore. She doesn't say a single word about that, but suddenly goes all spaghetti-woman on him, her limbs totally loose as she attempts to literally drop out of his hands – and hopefully sweep his leg with a kick on her way down. "Don't think you want to know what Arden's doing!" she gasps.

---

And they both end up on the floor and Joshua resists the urge to make a quick move to pin her to the ground. The whole fight has gained some uncomfortable sexual overtones and getting Nika into a pin certainly isn't going to help that. He doesn't really think anything is going to happen, but with all the pax in people's systems, no point in risking it.

It's not really Nika's fault. Well, maybe somewhat her fault, but mostly Joshua just needs to learn to let all the sex thoughts that people are having flow right past him like all the other casual thoughts he's learned to ignore. He'll get there, just takes time, and the amount of sex going on in this ship seems to have dramatically increased over the last few days.

He gets up on one knee and offers Nika a hand to stand up.

---

As they land in a pile, Nika starts to laugh. It's a breathless laugh -- her thoughts might be on what's going on with Arden a lot, but her thoughts toward Joshua are decidedly NOT sexual in any fashion. She takes the hand to get up with no intention of being naughty, and then a split second before she pulls her weight upward the intent to flip him over her head hits her. The action is nearly instantaneous with the thought, but she's not exactly skilled at hiding it.

---

Joshua smiles even as Nika flips him over her head. Sneaky but a very good manuever on her part. He lands with a thump, but quickly rolls to his feet. "Well done, Nika, well done." he says with true admiration in his voice. "I have to say, I like feeling this way." All the energy and none of the worrying about having to avoid everyone's thoughts all the time. It wasn't surprising he liked it, it was surprising it took him this long to decide to be this way.

---

Rolling to her own feet, Nika was still laughing. With him rather than at him. The exertion is clearing her head, and she tells him candidly, "Like we can do gorram anything?" she asks him. She's not unaware of the effects, but it's just hard to *care* about them when she feels so good. "It's intoxicating. Like ... anything goes. Even knowing what's causing it doesn't make me want to make it stop," she admits. "Beating the Alliance? Hell yeah! We can do it – cuz we're just that much better!"

---

He laughs, the clear sound of it ringing through the hold. "Now you know what it feels like to be me, all the time. Does make it hard to tell whether the pax had any effect though."

---

Nika looks up at the rigging Rina managed in here, and she grins. "Well, the trouble is that I feel it, but I know it's not necessarily true. Doesn't make me stop what I'm doing, though," she admits. "What's she been up to in here, anyway?" Distraction is a constant.

---

"Abseiling!" Joshua almost shouts it with a huge, silly smile on his face. "My wife rocks so very much." And not just for the abseiling portion of things, he thinks to himself. "And if you feel it, you can make it true, you know. All about force of will and wanting something enough."

---

There's a flash across her face. The briefest of moments, staggering – damn near crippling – in its intensity, of hurt at his last assertion. Nika is an expert at pushing that away, though, and it's gone nearly as fast as it happened. "Abseiling in the hold? Can I go?" she asks, her expression shooting into the thoroughly intrigued realm.

---

That brief moment of hurt crosses Joshua's mind and it's all he can do not to upchuck right there, but the moment passes and his happy returns. They're talking abseiling, after all. "It's your ship, Captain, I don't see why not. The harness and stuff is right over there," he says, pointing to the far wall. "Would've left it on top of the platform, but not enough space to get it on up there."

---

"Oooh!" Nika says, clapping her hands. "Show me how it works?" she nearly begs with excitement.

---

Joshua walks over to the harness and picked it up. "So you get this thing on, then you can attach one of the lines to the front or the back and away you go. It's quite ingenious. I can help you get into it or you can just do it yourself. And hopefully it'll fit. You're a little taller than I am." Where by a little, Joshua means a lot.

---

"Awww... if she only rigged it for your height, that's okay," Nika replies with a grin. "I can ask her later if it can be re-rigged. Did you enjoy it?" Because he sure seems to be vibrating with 'holy crap it was FUN!' right now. "Did you hit the far wall?"

---

"Maybe a little." With the same definition of little applying here. "But hell yes it was fun. I'm going to be sailing down that line at least once a day, if not more. Best surprise ever."

---

Nika laughs. "I knew she was up to something, but I didn't know what. I was kinda trying to steer clear, since I didn't want to suddenly figure it out and ruin it," she admits. "All right, you. Back to the mats, then! We'll talk to her about the rigging later." She seems cheerful enough about the idea.

---

Joshua heads back to the mat, leaving the abseiling behind (for the moment). He and Nika spar for close to 20 minutes before Joshua is really feeling it, the aches, the bruises and just the sheer fatigue of it. It's been days since he felt really tired and surprisingly, it feels really good. Breathing heavily, he says, "You're putting me through my paces here, Nika."

---

She too is feeling the tug of the level of exertion they're putting one another through. When he pauses, Nika leans forward and puts her hands on her knees, dropping her head. She's sweating heavily and enjoying the hell out of it. "Good," she gasps between breaths. "Cuz you're putting me through mine too -- last time I worked out like this was on Miranda." She grins up at him, though the comment brings with it that flash once more of soul-crippling pain, more muted this time because it's more a regret than anything. Those days on Miranda, as hard as they were, were probably some of the best days she's had in the past few years. It was time with her other sister-mother-figures.

Pushing herself upright and blowing out another breath, she walks the mats to cool down some.

---

"Once again, I feel...good. Not sure I want to be cured." His voice is somewhat joking, but there is a somewhat serious undertone underneath it. He uses the back of his sleeve to wipe sweat from his brow. He then turns towards Nika.

"Do you mind if I abandon you to go get a shower before I have to go fix dinner? Performance art just doesn't create itself, after all."

---

"Not at all," Nika replies easily. "Thanks for the workout, Joshua." She's truly grateful for the workout, feeling almost normal. Content in a wierd kind of way. If there's one thing the drug they've been exposed to has done for her, it's built on the way she felt after Boros and pulled her almost entirely out of the abyss she'd been facing for so long.

---

"Let's not go so long without beating the tar out of each other, Nika," Joshua quips as he lays a hand on her shoulder briefly, then heads out to make his way to the upper deck. Maybe, he thinks, Rina would be in their room so he could get dirty before he got clean. And he smiles to himself.




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